Field of the Invention
Included are liquid and soil repellent compositions for application on fiber and methods of applying these compositions. The liquid repellent composition includes a wax and the soil repellent composition includes at least one clay nanoparticle.
Description of the Related Art
Textiles that include fiber such as carpet can be exposed to a variety of different substances that can stain and ultimately diminish the appearance of carpet. The substances can be hydrophilic and/or hydrophobic in nature.
Stain and soil repellent chemicals are often applied during the production of textiles including carpets and textile products used for upholstery, bedding, and other textiles. Anti-soil treatments of such textiles have primarily been based on variations of highly fluorinated polymers which, among other effects, tend to reduce the surface energy of the fibers resulting in a decrease in the soiling of the textiles. A considerable disadvantage of such fluorinated polymers is their high cost, owing in part to the somewhat limited raw material supplies required for their production.
Non-fluorinated polymers or materials have also been developed to treat textiles, especially carpets, to reduce soiling. Examples include silicones, silicates, and certain silsesquioxanes. However, these non-fluorinated compositions generally do not provide the same soil and water-repellent effects on textiles compared to the fluorinated polymers. They are, however, much more readily sourced from raw materials, thus further improvements using silicon-based materials is advantageous.
Recently, combinations of fluorinated polymers with non-fluorinated materials have been shown to be useful to treat nylon carpets. In certain cases, even though the carpets have shown certain soil resistance, the feel of some of these treated carpets to the hand, or “hand,” (or “handle”) is less pleasant than the original, untreated carpets, especially when they have also been treated with stain-resistant compositions.
A satisfactory hand, including smooth interactions between carpet fibers, is especially important for textiles such as carpets and textile products used for upholstery, bedding, and other interior applications. Increased value-in-use is associated with a luxurious tactile sensation that is preferred and desirable for these textiles. However, attempts to improve hand by the addition of non-fluorochemical topically-applied agents have been problematic because such agents tend to cause increased soiling and they generally wear or wash off quickly, rapidly losing their tactile effectiveness.